European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

My Lords, I am grateful for what I think I would call the broad support for these statutory instruments. I also note the varying views about democracy. All noble Lords have supported the way in which the statutory instruments propose filling vacancies for European parliamentary elections, but more concern has been expressed about filling local council seats. I understand that concern. The noble Lord, Lord Bew, drew a parallel between my Government’s view on the need for an elected second Chamber and our proposals for Northern Ireland. I note the disparity. However, I think we would all recognise that in Northern Ireland we are seeking to maintain the political and cross-community balance. That is very difficult, and it would be extremely difficult to maintain the balance while having by-elections under an STV system. That is why we are where we are. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, drew our attention to a list system, and I can see its attractions. In this case, however, it would be better to go down the line that we are proposing. If candidates were to publish their proposed replacement at the time of their election, which is essentially a list system, the electorate would justly expect that individual to replace the member. We also believe that it might not always be possible to do so because the proposed replacement might be unwilling or unable to fill the seat when the vacancy arose. The electorate could then feel that they had been misled. I would suggest that when electors vote for the representatives of political parties, they usually do so because they support the party’s position on certain matters in line with the party’s manifesto. They are therefore essentially voting for the party and not for the person. The proposals before us respect the fact that the electorate vote for the party rather than the person. I would also point out that the PR-STV system has been well established in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. If we were to have a closed party list system, the public would not know who would replace the candidate then, either, so that would perhaps not be the best solution. The noble Baroness, Lady Harris, raised issues in relation to the canvass. I celebrate with her the fact that there appears to be a robust electoral register in Northern Ireland. I add my congratulations to all those involved. I was interested to hear of the schools initiative. That is something that we as a Government, and perhaps other political parties, should consider adopting in the rest of the United Kingdom. The chief electoral officer sets out in his business plan his strategy for improving registration levels. These include mini-canvasses and events to target registration of under-represented groups. Recent legislative amendments to allow the transfer of information will assist the process. He is being very proactive in trying to ensure that more people register before the forthcoming elections. That is a very useful thing, because we want to maximise democratic participation in Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom. I hope that I have answered all questions to the satisfaction of noble Lords, and that they will approve the regulations in due course. The important thing is that there has been wide consultation in Northern Ireland; the statutory instruments have the support of the various interested groups there, including the political parties, district councils and MEPs; and therefore they appear to have the support of the people of Northern Ireland. Another strong point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, was consistency in the method of filling vacancies in the Northern Ireland Assembly. If one has the same method for the Northern Ireland Assembly as for the European parliamentary elections, it is very consistent to have the same method used for council elections. I hope that noble Lords will support these statutory instruments.